Clamps for woodwind musical instruments

ABSTRACT

A clamp for maintaining the keys of a woodwind musical instrument in a closed position while the instrument is not being played comprising a first wire of a length sufficient to contact a plurality of the keys and a second wire so shaped as to firmly grip the body of the instrument thereby pressing the first wire against the keys and holding them in a closed position. The wires may be made of spring steel and covered with a plastic coating.

United States Patent Dickson, Jr.

451 Sept. 19, 1972 Dl97,4l7 3,317,966

CLAMPS FOR WOODWIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Inventor: Lester C. Dickson, Jr., PO. Box

774, Jonesboro, Ga. 30236 Filed: Nov. 23, 1970 Appl. No.: 91,982

US. Cl. ..s4/4ss, 84/380 111:. c1. ..Gl0g 7/00 Field 6: Search ....s4/4s3, 380, 382, 385; 24/27, 24/255 R, 261 R, 261 RC; D8/229, 235, 246, 71

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1964 Kirkpatrick ..D8/229 5/1967 Gildone ..24/27 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 3,601 2/1893 Great Britain ..24/26l RC 181,782 3/1936 Switzerland ..24/261RC Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-John F. Gonzales [57] ABSTRACT A clamp for maintaining the keys of a woodwind musical instrument in a closed position while the instrument is not being played comprising a first wire of a length sufficient to contact a plurality of the keys and a second wire so shaped as to firmly grip the body of the instrument thereby pressing the first wire against the keys and holding them in a closed position. The wires may be made of spring steel and covered with a plastic coating.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEH m2 3.691.893

FIGURE l FIGURE 2 FIGURE 3 A24 1. a Exp/10% CLAMPS FOR WOODWIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS This invention relates to clamps for Woodwind Musical Instruments; of which the saxophone, clarinet, flute, oboe and bassoon are examples.

The primary object of these clamps is to hold down a plurality of keys; which remain open when said instrument is not being played. These said keys contain pads made of leather or other similar material; which provides the seal at the valves or tone holes of these musical instruments. It is understood that these open key pads are the source of many problems, because they are greatly affected by humidity, heat, and cold and therefore will not provide a perfect seal when instrument is being played.

A further object of these clamps is to provide a firm but light pressure on said keys thereby improving the playing properties of these Woodwind Instruments.

A further object of these clamps is to provide a unique, simple and inexpensive method of resorting the effectiveness of these seals on said pads.

Considering now the construction of the clamps of the present invention; these clamps are made of spring steel consisting of a straight wire of sufficient length to contact a plurality of open said keys; a second wire having one of its ends attached or silver soldered to the first wire and extending at substantially a perpendicular angle from said first wire, said second wire being curved in at least a 180 arc; where said first wire will be firmly pressed against said plurality of keys so as to cause said keys to be closed when said second wire is clamped around said instrument.

These clamps are covered with a plastic coating. It will be understood that the length, size and strength of the spring steel will depend upon the size and type of Woodwind Instrument upon which said clamp is to be used.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A set of three Clamps is necessary for each Woodwind Musical Instrument: the one exception is the Piccolo, this instrument requires only two Clamps.

The object of the invention is to press down all the keys which remain open when the instrument is not being played. By doing this, it is possible to keep a very good or almost perfect seat in all pads.

The straight part is placed on top and in the center of the open keys, the entire section of keys is pressed closed and the curved part is pressed downward and BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS The enclosed drawing is one set of Clamps for Alto Saxophone, drawn to actual size and at a 45 angle.

FIG. 1 is the clamp for the keys pressed down by the 1 ft h th of th 0 h e.

e FIG? g i t he zit len g f r t e keyi ges e r iown by the fingers of the right hand, on the lower part of the Saxophone.

FIG. 3 is the clamp that closes the lowest three open keys or the keys that are closed by the little fingers of the left and right hands.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The Clamps are made of No.40 or 0.097 inches in diameter, silver soldered together, bent to shape as shown in the drawing; then covered with a plastic coating.

The set shown will fit any saxophone or any woodwind instrument with only a variation in sizes and slight difierences in the third Clamp, shown in FIG. (3). Each or any set can be adjusted for a perfect fit by bending, if necessary, using only the hands.

lclaim:

1. A clamp for holding the keys of a Woodwind Musical Instrument in a closed position comprising a first wire of sufficient length to contact a plurality of said keys, a second wire having one of its ends attached to said first wire and extending at substantially a perpendicular angle from said first wire, said second wire being curved in at least a arc whereby said first wire will be firmly pressed against said plurality of keys so as to cause said keys to be closed when said second wire is clamped around said instrument.

2. A clamp as described in claim 1, wherein said wires are made of spring steel.

3. A clamp as described in claim 2, wherein both of said wires are covered with a plastic coating. 

1. A clamp for holding the keys of a Woodwind Musical Instrument in a closed position comprising a first wire of sufficient length to contact a plurality of said keys, a second wire having one of its ends attached to said first wire and extending at substantially a perpendicular angle from said first wire, said second wire being curved in at least a 180* arc whereby said first wire will be firmly pressed against said plurality of keys so as to cause said keys to be closed when said second wire is clamped around said instrument.
 2. A clamp as described in claim 1, wherein said wires are made of spring steel.
 3. A clamp as described in claim 2, wherein both of said wires are covered with a plastic coating. 